Review for The Girl and The Raven by Pauline Gruber

I received a copy through NetGalley for an honest review.

Sorry that I have not been on to write a review in a while, I have been struggling to get through the book that this post is reviewing!

I did not finish The Girl and The Raven. I struggled, and I took breaks, and I read, and I got angry, and I just could not do it. Usually, a fantasy type book like this catches my interest, but I do not know why this one did not.

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Lucy Walker just wants a normal life, but finds herself thrust into a world of witches, demons and a mysterious yet irresistible upstairs neighbor who claims to be her protector. All the while she’s desperately searching for the family raven that carries her magical legacy. She's walking a tightrope between good and evil, drawn to both, uncertain which she will ultimately choose.

At the beginning it seemed very interesting. The opening had a huge turn of events, and I figured I would enjoy this book a lot. As the plot begin to unravel, I just didn't connect with the story.

First the writing. While the grammar was a lot better than in Blur by Steven James (view review at http://kelseyskornerreviews.blogspot.com/2014/02/review-for-blur-by-steven-james.html), the writing was very immature. I could tell that the author, Pauline Gruber, was not experienced. Either that, or that was just the way she writes. The story seemed to jump around so much, that I could not keep track. The author kept it jumping around, as well as introducing characters in their own POV, without me knowing who they even were. I get that at the beginning, but even in the middle of the book it was occurring.

The writing wasn't the only bad part of the book, the characters just annoyed me. You have Lucy, who is the main character (at least, most of the time). She did not seem smart at all, and did not take little hints. Oh, and almost everyone in the book thought with their pants. You have Lucy's friends (who I do not remember any of their names, they are that interesting), who are either all over boys, or all over Lucy in the abusive way. Then you have the "villain" of the book, who confused me on that part because all of the "evil" acts he was wanting to do, wasn't really all that evil. The only likeable character in the book was Lucy's uncles. They were the most believable because they were not into all of the mumbo jumbo in this book (remember, I only read the beginning. I could be wrong).

This book has everything from every other fantasy book you could read. It had demons, witches, and angels. The only thing that I did not see in the book (from the beginning) was a vampire. But I could definitely be wrong. I felt that it took a lot from other books that I have read, such as Fallen by Lauren Kate and The Secret Circle by L.J. Smith.

This book also did not know how to build a suspenseful situation. Any time that was supposed to be even mildly suspenseful, was just boring. The funny portions of the book did not make me laugh. The sad parts did not make me have 'the feels'. It also was bad at plot twists. All of the plot twists that were thrown at me, I had already guessed from the beginning of the book. They also released the plot twist way too early into the story. It did not make me want to read more of it.

I think I may have expected too much from this book. Very disappointing.

1 book